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Taormina trip planner
A classic Grand Tour resort town on the coast of Sicily
www.comune.taormina.me.it
www.taohotels.com
Hotels in Taormina
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www.venere.com
www.hostelworld.com
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Taormina guide
• Intro
• Sights
• Hotels
• Restaurants
• Planning FAQSicily's most famous resort town remains an enchanting corner of the island despite the tourist hordes.
It's a jasmine-scented ridgetop escape that marries the drama of a Greek colony established here in 403 BC, a medieval air of Sicilian palazzi and tiny churches, and the modestly hedonistic atmosphere of a latter-day resort village that draws famed names and package tours alike. It sticks the lot together with liberal amounts of bougainvillea, seascape vistas, and a laid-back take on life.
Vacationers pour in all summer long, clogging the streets and booking the hotels and restaurants. While the tourist crush can get to be too much July to September, it's less bothersome the rest of the year—and you can always escape on the cable car down to the beach.
Taormina is almost entirely pedestrianized, a stroller's dream. Its little shops do a brisk business in over-priced Sicilian crafts and postcard photos of sepia-toned nubile youths. These soft-core pics were snapped by Baron Wilhelm von Gloeden and his late 19th-/early–20th century contemporaries, who flocked here for, well, for nubile youths. Taormina has been one of Europe's top gay resorts since its Greek days.
In the 20th century its role as a haven for homosexuals on holiday has meshed well enough with the local traditionalist peasantry, the middle-class crowds of latter-day mass tourists, and the jet set of famed writers and Hollywood glitterati, all of whom continue to show up in droves.
Taormina's been a fave over the years of everyone from Greta Garbo, who returned every spring for 30 years, to D. H. Lawrence, who found here the inspiration for his feverishly sensual Lady Chatterley's Lover, a story based, according to local rumor, on his own wife's dalliances with a Sicilian mule driver.
Tips
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Planning your time: A day is enough to see Taormina, but most folks come here to relax, in which case spending at least two nights is best—that is, if Taormina is your thing at all. If you prefer a more cultural Sicilian vacation, I'd say ignore Taormina entirely and spend your time in Siracusa, Palermo, Agrigento, and other more rewarding places (and, if you want a few days to relax, try Cefalù instead—rather less touristy and more Sicilian-feeling—or even the Aeolian islands.)
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How to get to Taormina: Taormina is 134km (80 miles) north of Siracusa, 48km (29 miles) south of Messina.
- How to get to Taormina by Train: There are 12–13 trains daily from Siracusa (2–2.5 hr.), and hourly ones from Catania (45–50 min.) and from Messina (35–65 min.). There are also 3 daily trains from Rome (9 hr.) that pass through Naples (6.5 hr.). The train station, Taormina-Giardini (tel. 0942-51-026 or 0942-51-511), is down on the SS114 coastal road. There's a left luggage open 6am to 10pm. A local bus makes the 15-minute trip up to Taormina itself 3 times an hour.
- How to get to Taormina by Bus: There are 2 buses (none Sunday) from Siracusa (2 hr. 45 min.); and at least hourly runs from Catania (60–90 min.), and from Messina (60–110 min.). There's a bus ticket booth at the bus station just outside the town gate on Via Pirandello (tel. 0942-625-301)
- How to get to Taormina by Car: Taormina is above the coastal A18 autostrada (and its parallel, the SS114 highway) from Messina to Catania and Siracusa.
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Visitor Information: The tourist office is in the Palazzo Corvaja on Largo S. Caterina (tel. 0942-23-243; www.comune.taormina.me.it). The Taormina hotels association website www.taohotels.com has good general info on town as well.
- Festivals & Markets: In May they throw a festival to show off traditional Sicilian carts and costumes. There are concerts and performances in the Greek theater and churches around town from June to September as part of the
Taormina Arte festival (www.taormina-arte.com). In June, Taormina also hosts an international film festival (www.taorminafilmfest.it). There's a daily morning market in Via Cappuccini
Related pages
- Sights in Taormina
- Hotels in Taormina
- Restaurants in Taormina
- Other destinations in Northeast Sicily
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This material was last updated October 2009. All information was accurate at the time.
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